JR Worlds - USA Greco Preview
Aug 26, 2016
Schedule | Greco Entries
Day 1
50kg: Randon Miranda
60kg: Taylor LaMont
74kg: Kamal Bey
96kg: G’Angelo Tracy Hancock
There a lot of expectations on day one of Junior Worlds for four guys who are predicted to have high ceilings in the sport, including a returning junior world team member from last year.
G’Angelo “Tracy” Hancock just made the senior world team ladder at 98kg following his third-place finish at the Olympic Team Trials. Last year, he didn't win Fargo, and went 0-1 at Junior Worlds, but made tremendous gains since moving to the Olympic Training Center. He placed third at both the Senior Nationals and Olympic Team Trials, meaning he is on the senior world team ladder.
Joining him at the OTC this year was Kamal Bey, who might be the single most exciting Greco-Roman prospect the United States has had in years. He won the Black Diamond Cup in Hungary back in March and was third at the Dave Schultz in January. Those are the closest simulations Bey has had so far to the quality of competition he will see at Junior Worlds.
Taylor LaMont has been on the age-level Greco scene for years—he won four Fargo titles and made three cadet world teams. He was in the bronze-medal match last year at Cadet Worlds, and was the only member of the team to wrestle for a medal. He lost a heartbreaker to the defending world champion in the quarterfinals, and then missed out on a takedown in his final match.
Miranda is by far the biggest wildcard of day one. He has been training at Northern Michigan, and made several overseas trips this year, so his training environment is conducive to success at the highest level.
Weigh-ins are at 10:15AM CT the day before, and wrestling will begin at 3AM CT on Tuesday, August 30. Brackets will be available on FloArena.
Day 2
55kg: Dalton Roberts
66kg: Jamal DeArmond
84kg: Nick Reenan
120kg: Michael Rogers
The other returning member of the team, Dalton Roberts, may be up a weight, but he is still as exciting as ever. He spent a good chunk of this year working on making the Olympic Trials at 59kg, so none of these guys will feel too big for him. A long time ago, he decided to focus on Greco-Roman, and has been working at Northern Michigan ever since.
Like Miranda, DeArmond is a massive wildcard. We have seen very little of him, and he's in a weight full of studs. This would be as good a time as any to make a name for himself.
We have two Wyoming Seminary stars among our upperweights. Nick Reenan was on the 2014 cadet world team, and he won junior Pan Ams a year ago, so this will not be his first rodeo against foreign guys.
Reenan makes the world team:
Closing it out with heavyweight Michael Rogers. The big boys have carried us the last couple years, and Rogers has nothing but the same expectations for himself.
Weigh-ins are at 10:15AM CT the day before, and wrestling will begin at 3AM CT on Wednesday, August 31. Brackets will be available on FloArena.
U.S. Greco-Roman roster
50 kg/110 lbs. – Randon Miranda, Palmdale, Calif. (NMU-OTS)
55 kg/121 lbs. – Dalton Roberts, Fowlerville, Mich. (NMU-OTS)
60 kg/132 lbs. – Taylor LaMont, Mapleton, Utah (Champions WC)
66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Jamal DeArmond, Marquette, Mich. (NMU-OTS)
74 kg/163 lbs. – Kamal Bey, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Front Range WC)
84 kg/185 lbs. – Nick Reenan, Dallas, Texas (Dallas Dynamite WC)
96 kg/211.5 lbs. – G’Angelo Hancock, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Front Range WC)
120 kg/264.5 lbs. – Michael Rogers, Round Rock, Texas (Bison Legend WC)
Greco-Roman National Coach – Matt Linland, Colorado Springs, Colo.
World Team coach – Ahad Javansalehi, Colorado Springs, Colo.
World Team coach – Derrick Waldroup, Kingwood, Texas
